It sounded like the well known Rags to Riches story that has been told countless times. It was bound to be a cliché , but despite all that stacked up against it, Rocky, along with its main actor , Sylvester Stallone, proved to be a Hollywood sensation. It is the story about a small-time boxer from working-class Philadelphia (Rocky Balboa (Stallone)), who is randomly chosen to box the reigning world heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). Along the way, finding a mentor, Rocky’s trainer, a feisty former contender Mickey Goldmill (Burgess Meredith), and love,  Adrian (Talia Shire), a social outcast like himself.

It is a simple plot, building momentum throughout the film, with the climax occurring at the much anticipated fight between Rocky and Apollo. So the question is, what was it about the film that caused such a stir in the New Hollywood era?

After watching the film, I can say with confidence that it  having Rocky be played by Sylvester Stallone. Stallone made it feel real, and made the viewer engage in his personal story to success, both on screen as Rocky and off. Stallone used his personal experience as a struggling actor, to channel his determination to become a self-made man through Rocky’s determination to find himself – his “pride”. If it was not Stallone playing Rocky Balboa, I truly believe it would not have been such a cornerstone in Hollywood Cinema, and the critics agree.

Throughout the film, we see Rocky fighting with self-identity. Eric Lichtenfeld, author of I, of The Tiger: Self and Self-Obsession in The Rocky Series, comments how the use of cinematography highlights Rocky’s lack of self-confidence. During the opening scene, it takes a couple screenshots to finally locate Rocky, who a viewer would initially think would be the center, given his name is the film’s title. He is seen boxing and is “photographed from outside the ring, Rocky appears in the shadows, with his back to us. Even between rounds, when Rocky is seated in his corner, his face is partially concealed”. Lichtenfeld continues by exploring how Rocky is compared to his physical environment, intentionally making him seem small, despite his actual quite large physical demeanor. Within the first few scenes, as Rocky fails in his job as a debt collector, “Rocky walks off, towards a ship that visually dwarfs him. A match cut then frames a diminished Rocky between a bridge and an elevated train, another industrial background”. Lichtenfeld portrays how Rocky’s environment is minimizing his character, literally “putting him down”. This is how we first see Rocky; the movie is the journey of Rocky digging himself out of his personal “low-life” hole, starting with the opportunity to box Apollo Creed (Lichtenfeld).  

This uphill battle, most famously captured in the film when Rocky is running up the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps, resonated deeply with the audience. James Rolfe, an owner of the famous movie reviewing web series – cinemassacre, agrees, saying how Rocky was “all about the character. [Rocky is] the focus, [it is a] very internalized story, about the emotions that [Rocky] goes through…  [Rocky] becomes a real person to me. But it is a fictional character that was brought to life through the film” (Rolfe).  Rocky’s humanization could have only been the product of Stallone’s acting skills, portraying it in a way that exemplifies desperateness to succeed, an extreme need by Stallone himself to excel in his role. Playing Rocky (a screenplay he wrote, but refused to sell unless he played Rocky, risking him thousands of dollars) was most likely Stallone’s last chance to break through as an actor before becoming homeless. As he mentioned in an interview with Dinah Shore and Joey Bishop in 1976, “you have nothing to lose when you have nothing to lose” (Stallone).

Rocky’s hunger for self-determination begins when he starts to train for the fight. Even though everyone assumes Rocky is just used as a prop to market Apollo as a skilled and undefeated fighter, he is determined to prove that “he can go the distance”. In a altercation with Mickey, his manager, Rocky exclaims, “Don’t slum around me. Talkin’ about your prime. What about my prime, Mick? At least you had a prime! I didn’t have no prime. I didn’t have nithin’! “ (Stallone, 1976). Rocky uses his internal fire to prove to everyone, but specifically himself, that he is not “nothing”, that he can succeed despite the odds, just like Stallone, who knew his script is worth much more than just a work to sell, and was determined to be the hero in his own story.

Cinematic heroism was also seen by Robert Ebert who stated “Rocky isn’t about a story, it’s about a hero. And it’s inhabited with supreme confidence by a star … I can’t think of another actor who could quite have pulled off this performance”.  To this day, it is Sylvester Stallone that is most notably remembered for his iconic role as Rocky Balboa, not the directors, even though they were the ones who took home the academy award, not Stallone.

Rocky was a monumental film in late seventies Hollywood, it brought back the appreciation of a hero, having all odds against him, but persevering despite it all. However, take out Sylvester Stallone, and what you have left is just another cliché sports movie that maybe make headlines for a week. It was Stallone’s own experience, the very fact that he was the one that wrote Rocky’s story that immortalized the character is such a way. 

Stallone made us see Rocky for who he really is, a fighter – both in the ring and out. And no one else in the industry, regardless of talent, would be able to do that. Roger Ebert puts it best when he says:

“There’s that exhilarating moment when Stallone, in training, runs up the steps of Philadelphia’s art museum, leaps into the air, shakes his fist at the city, and you know he’s sending a message to the whole movie industry”